358 réponses à ce sujet

[Ianamus]

I've made a few posts about this recently, and read a few others, and I think that this deserves a topic. 

Cerberus worked well as the background antagonist with links to the Alliance that it was in Mass Effect 1. In Mass Effect Effect 2 they had a larger role, but were still fresh, and worked well with story. 

But since then literally all Mass Effect Media has focused on them. Ascension, Retribution, Deception, Evolution, Galaxy, Invasion, all of them feature Cerberus. Mass Effect 3 will have 40% of it's enemies being Cerberus, so if you see an enemy that's a nearly 50% chance that it will be one of them!

They were already less interesting (in my opinion) than the other races/factions in the game, being (again, in my opinion) a fairly generic terrorist group, and what little novelty they had wore thin several books/comics ago.
Compare them to the Migrant fleet, that only appeared in one of the Novels outside of the game, or Turian society, which was looked at only briefly in Retribution. Even then they were second to Cerberus. The Krogan/Asari/Salarians have barely appeared outside the games at all, other than the odd individual. 

Although I do not like using the term, it reminds me of the Mary Sue, a character that appears to be the creators 'favourite' and becomes the centre of attention, to the extent that even when they are not present they are being talked about or mentioned. However much Bioware seemingly likes them, there are many people who much prefer the other races and factions of the game, and they are not accounted for.

I'm not saying that they have ruined the franchise for me, but I do feel that Bioware really should take a break from the Cerberus stories and finally focus on something else. I fear that they will once again take the spotlight in Mass Effect 3, maybe even recieving more screentime than the Reapers themselves. 

[Bad King]

Actually Mass Effect: Inquisition did not feature Cerberus.

But yeah, I'd like it if Mass Effect novels/comics/spin-off games featured some of the other races' organisations. We could learn about the Salarian STG or the Batarian SIU- it would really expand our knowledge of the other races.

Modifié par Bad King, 19 juillet 2011 - 12:34 .

[GunMoth]

I would much rather they kept up with the Cerberus story line since it has almost everything to do with the plot at this point. Mainly TIM. I would be pretty pissed off if Bioware spent an entire installment talking about Cerberus, their intentions, and the revival of Shepard only so that they could be a background character in ME3.

Cerberus is like the Alliance of the Terminus systems. Its a different anthropocentric point of view from the first game.


EDIT: Also, you're forgetting about many of the Alliance characters who were introduced in the novels / comics as well as the people who are rising up against Cerberus. (Gillian, Sanders, and soon Aria.) 

Modifié par GunMoth, 19 juillet 2011 - 12:37 .

[Sierra Crysis]

I personally liked it more when they were the neighborhood mad scientists that always had lab outbreaks in ME1. Them taking a huge role in ME2 was meh, but now I suppose that story needs to be concluded/wrapped up in ME3.

What bothers me is how so many things can just suddenly be indoctrinated when it took Sovereign quite awhile I'm assuming to get what he had in the first. Now they're showing up in the hundreds and like ALL of cerberus is suddenly all reaperfied. I personally would like it more if TIM was just trying to get back at Shep for blowing up the stupid facility.

I realize however that, Bioware's not ignorant and will probably explain how this process is done/how it fits into the overall big picture but.. Well, that's all I got to say about it really.

[Taritu]

Cerberus is BORING compared to the alien races, but they've made it about them, and I agree that given ME2 was so much about Cerberus at this point they have to be fairly major in ME3 (that said, I hate the boring "they got indoctrinated" bit.)

To be brutally frank, ME1 had a good story, and ME2, imo, did not. We'll see if ME3 does. Given that DA2 also had a story which fell apart, I wonder about Bioware. It's nice that they make better shooters than they used to, but that's not what I'm looking for from a Bioware game.

[Paulinius]

Personally, I'm not a fan of Cerberus, however I do not feel it is overplayed.

The way Cerberus has been revealed and used in the ME universe is fine. Them staying in the shadows in ME1 and you having to see and deal with all of their experiments, killings, and what not was perfect. You suddenly having to work with/for them in ME2 was an interesting twist and in general well done. Their heavy appearance in ME3 makes sense as a final build-up and a way to end their story-line.

So their use isn't bad, it's actually good-to me anyway. The problem I have with them is that they're aren't the most interesting organization ever. It seems too cliche: a secret organization causing mayhem, it's just like any James Bond movie, thriller, and drama out there. If another organization or enemy was used in Cerberus' place, or if Cerberus was made to look more appealing and interesting then it would have been great.

So in essence, the pacing of the meal courses and the quantity of food are great, but the food itself is bland and tasteless.

Modifié par Paulinius, 19 juillet 2011 - 01:06 .

[Mr. Gogeta34]

Cerberus is fine as a complex villain... if it were an alien race things would be a lot more simple...

The "Hostile aliens are the enemy" routine has been done far more than the type of antagonist Cerberus is.

[TheLeetSkweet]

i'll admit, i was disappointed when i had heard just after e3 that cerberus would be 40% of the enemies in this game. they'd be good for a maybe 10% clash every now and then, but i want to have the feeling of fighting the reapers and their mininos, not just more brutes in colored uniforms.

[slimgrin]

Cerberus is not my favorite part of the series. TIM is as cliche as it gets in my book. And I was surprised to see them highlighted in ME2. I hope they shift the focus in ME3.

[sympathy4saren]

I agree with the OP and slimgrin.

[Aligalipe]

Cerberus is too deep in the story now. After ME2 they had to keep Cerberus as a Major Faction.

[Kaiser Shepard]

Cerberus will persevere. We are nothing if not resilient.

[Terror_K]

I love to hate Cerberus, but I agree they're overly focused on as a whole, and I would like some more supplementary material that actually looks at something else. My other issue with them is that I feel they're just too damn powerful.

In ME1 it made sense, where they seemed to have a few hidden bases and research facilities scattered about the traverse, keeping it all rather subtle and with small numbers, but ME2 started to really stretch things and really wonder how this group could supposedly have to much resources, be so omniscient and still remain almost completely unknown to everybody, especially with them slapping their logo and bright yellow and white decals on everything they owned. I find it hard to believe that the salarians, for example, wouldn't be able to just find Cerberus given their information networks and overall intelligence.

Now it sounds like ME3 is going to be stretching my suspension of belief even more, and despite reports from ME2 of Shepard and the SR2 almost draining their resources and a bunch of turian strike forces in Retribution almost crippling their cells they're suddenly going to be one of the most prevalent enemies with hundreds of forces almost everywhere, advanced mechs and technology, etc. How could a small splinter cell that broke from the Alliance and went rogue only a few years ago get so damn big given all the circumstances? Especially given recent events that should be draining their resources and influence, and yet all it seems to have done is somehow made them stronger.

[Admoniter]

I agree many of the recent works in the ME universe have featured Cerberus in the same role they always play, and I'm honestly getting sick of it. For two reasons; 1: there are plenty of other shadowy organizations willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their/the group the represents survival; why does it always have to be Cerberus sticking their fingers into every bodies pies and then summarily ****ing it all up. 2: It's all quite samey and getting quite repetitive; enter Cerberus, new/recovered technology is invented/salvaged, said tech is tested, testing backfires, lives lost/equipment destroyed, someone goes and cleans up the mess, rinse, repeat.

In short the ME universe is filled with many characters and organizations that could all feasibly do this sort of stuff; why is the burden of the ever incompetent secret organization all on Cerberus. I honestly find it hard to believe that people are clamoring for Cerberus to do something and in the process **** it all up then either use their resources to return everything to the status quo so they can do it all again of have someone else do said clean up... well lets just say I'm not impressed.

I don't think it is good writing and more importantly having Cerberus being an in your face, ever present, one trick horse (the trick being royally screwing the pooch for the plot) just isn't interesting it's downright idiotic. Like come on can't they pass the idiot stick around a little bit, you know mix things up every now and then. Actually portray them as a semi competent group every now and then so that people can actually say oh they have humanities best interests at heart and they get results. Instead of the norm of "Oh look what evil Cerberus has introduced to the world this week." Which seems to be the common theme of just about every bit of media from the ME universe.

[Beerfish]

My one and only probelm with cerberus is the number of outrageous things they had their hands in, in me1 that shepard had to deal with. The organization is a fundamental part of this story and after ME2 it has to be a big part of ME3. It would be a worse story flaw if it was just tossed aside or played a minor role in ME3

[Paulinius]

Admoniter wrote...

I agree many of the recent works in the ME universe have featured Cerberus in the same role they always play, and I'm honestly getting sick of it. For two reasons; 1: there are plenty of other shadowy organizations willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their/the group the represents survival; why does it always have to be Cerberus sticking their fingers into every bodies pies and then summarily ****ing it all up. 2: It's all quite samey and getting quite repetitive; enter Cerberus, new/recovered technology is invented/salvaged, said tech is tested, testing backfires, lives lost/equipment destroyed, someone goes and cleans up the mess, rinse, repeat.

In short the ME universe is filled with many characters and organizations that could all feasibly do this sort of stuff; why is the burden of the ever incompetent secret organization all on Cerberus. I honestly find it hard to believe that people are clamoring for Cerberus to do something and in the process **** it all up then either use their resources to return everything to the status quo so they can do it all again of have someone else do said clean up... well lets just say I'm not impressed.

I don't think it is good writing and more importantly having Cerberus being an in your face, ever present, one trick horse (the trick being royally screwing the pooch for the plot) just isn't interesting it's downright idiotic. Like come on can't they pass the idiot stick around a little bit, you know mix things up every now and then. Actually portray them as a semi competent group every now and then so that people can actually say oh they have humanities best interests at heart and they get results. Instead of the norm of "Oh look what evil Cerberus has introduced to the world this week." Which seems to be the common theme of just about every bit of media from the ME universe.

Aye. It's like Star Trek and the Borg. 

They created a so called powerful and unstoppable force that the good guys could barely win against. Then they transform them into baffons that are easily defeated multiple times.

It is a problem in many forms of media. They introduce a villian who at first seems threatening, then the progtangist is always able to defeat them relatively easily and without any/many casaulties. The villian then becomes a joke and is no longer seen as a threat.

If they had stories in the books, comics, or games (past ME2) that explicitly make Cerberus appear to be a compentent and dangerous foe whom Shepard really has to work hard to defeat, then it would have been great. Instead, we get an organization whom after ME1 is constantly rehasing the same formula of screwing up while we have to assume that they are competent based on the fact that they're still around.

[KainrycKarr]

I preferred Cerberus when they were the enemy you knew of, but knew almost nothing about.

Now it just bores the hell out of me. It honestly feels(to me) like, literally, everything that happens in the ME universe, has SOMETHING to do with Cerberus, which is, frankly, retarded.

[Terror_K]

To be honest, as much as I decry Cerberus for various reasons (see above), I don't believe they're incompetent buffoons. It's more a case of them always pushing things to their limits and doing things most other groups would find questionable at best to get results. This has actually served them well, because through extreme means they have made great leaps and bounds in a short amount of time (again, perhaps a bit too much) but at the cost of a lot of failures and disasters. We're always seeing the failures and disasters for the most part, because there's nothing really exciting about an experiment where everything is 100% fine. Cerberus isn't really incompetent as such, they're just in a little over their heads in many cases because they just push things too far to get results. I'd say it's paid off in slightly more cases than it hasn't, but we haven't seen many of those times. It's all "the ends justifies the means" type stuff.

[KainrycKarr]

I agree ^^^ they don't strike me as competent, just waayyyy over-involved in EVERYTHING.

[Paula Deen]

The Cerberus Effect actually exists and it has nothing to do with a plot device.

I think Hijacked By Ganon is the closest thing you're going to find.

[Xeranx]

Honestly, there's no way to say that being forced to work with or for Cerberus is well done when you figure there's no real way to express dissatisfaction with the whole idea. A great many, myself included, absolutely hate that it happened the way it did especially given what transpired in the first game. We were told that we had to work with Cerberus and that was it. Many stated it's no different than having to work with the Alliance, but at the very least it was expressed that Shepard (regardless of your background) made the decision to enlist in the very opening of the series. Trying to make that parallel is like hating the idea of taking control of Agent 47 and having to perform hits on various targets despite knowing that this is what you knew you'd be doing before you bought the game.

[ShadowSplicer]

I'm only pissed because I want to fight the Reapers, not Cerberus.

[Sepewrath]

ShadowSplicer wrote...

I'm only pissed because I want to fight the Reapers, not Cerberus.

Did you miss that giant Reaper Shepard was massaging with bullets in the E3 demo? Though personally I disagree, this game is about ground based, squad combat, you cant do that with a 200 story ship shooting at you from Orbit, and I don't want it to turn into Rogue Squadron 2; on top of that, knocking off Reapers like their husk, only cheapens their overbearing image.

When it comes to the topic, I don't think so, Cerberus is a big part of this and they are the only ones actively always doing something. So they can expand the universe, without disrupting it too much. Also the books have to feature humans in some way, you cant very well have a story happening on Thessia where everyone is oddly, speaking english.

[Twizz089]

Alot of people are saying that there is too much Cerberus in the games, but who would the enemy be if not Cerberus? Like a poster above me mentioned you cant have squad based combat against gaint reapers

Modifié par Twizz089, 19 juillet 2011 - 03:07 .